August 24, 2020
Inpatient rates of Clostridioides difficile (or C. difficile), a common healthcare-associated infection, reached an all-time low at UNC Hospitals earlier this year as COVID-19 moved into North Carolina. In April, only two C. difficile infections (CDI) were reported, and the fiscal year ending June 30 showed a 16% reduction compared to the 2018 baseline. The …
July 30, 2020
By Sarah Krueger, WRAL Durham reporter Chapel Hill, N.C. — From Florida to California, some hospitals report running out of remdesivir, the drug that has shown promise in fighting COVID-19 in the most seriously ill patients. But officials at several area hospitals said Thursday that they have enough of the drug to meet demand.
July 8, 2020
by Judith Retana via CBS17.com Health professionals across the country are experiencing shortages of supplies needed for COVID-19 tests, and it’s leading to a slow down of test results, according to Dr. Melissa Miller. She is the director of the Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratories at UNC Health. In a media briefing Wednesday, Miller …
June 25, 2020
Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (CASP) is carrying out intensive stewardship in the realm of COVID-19. The work is a natural extension of its mission to improve the use of antimicrobials (which include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics). In addition to CASP’s daily stewardship to ensure patients receive antimicrobials only when needed, with the right drug, right …
May 27, 2020
The advent of COVID-19 catalyzed a still-evolving and radical shift in healthcare delivery, especially in hospitals that were already on the front lines of caring for the sickest patients. In March, as University of North Carolina Hospitals’ non-critical employees were sent to work from home, Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (CASP) Medical Director Nikolaos Mavrogiorgos knew …
May 20, 2020
In the first COVID-19 case series of tocilizumab in the United States, CASP’s Jonathan Parr, MD…
March 13, 2020
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHQI) announced its 2020-2021 Improvement Scholars Program this week. The Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program congratulates member Renae Boerneke, PharmD, BCPS, CPP on the selection of her project with co-lead Mildred Kwan, MD, PhD: Reducing the Healthcare Utilization of Broad Spectrum Antibiotics: Implementation of …
January 24, 2020
On January 23, 2019, Dr. David Weber presented at the UNC School of Medicine Grand Rounds on the continuing threat of multidrug resistant pathogens. Dr. Weber’s research interests include hospital-associated (nosocomial) infections especially antibiotic-resistant pathogens, surveillance, disinfection and sterilization, nosocomial pneumonia, hand hygiene, and outbreak investigations. Other research interests include new and emerging infectious diseases, …
November 30, 2019
The Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program 2019 Annual Newsletter features updates on its efforts, including: Renewed recognition from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services: NC DHHS renewed UNC Medical Center’s Advanced Level 2 Antibiotic Stewardship STAR Partner Facility rating for a second year, in recognition of its comprehensive antimicrobial stewardship program. UNCMC is …
October 18, 2019
UNC Health Care’s annual Quality Expo was held October 16-17, 2019. The annual event is hosted by UNC Performance Improvement and Patient Safety (PIPS), and this year’s theme was Quality is our Business. The mission of UNC PIPS is to enable higher quality and safer patient care by partnering with healthcare professionals to drive process …
October 10, 2019
UNC’s OPAT and Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Teams presented five academic posters at the annual ID Week Conference. ID (Infectious Diseases) Week is a joint conference of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medical Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. This year’s conference was held October 2-6 …
November 20, 2018
The University of North Carolina Medical Center (UNCMC) was awarded Advanced STAR Partner Status for antimicrobial stewardship as part of the STewardship of Antimicrobial Resources (STAR) Partners Initiative through the State of North Carolina Surveillance for Healthcare-Associated Infections and Resistant Pathogens Patient Safety (NC SHARPPS) Program. UNCMC is the only hospital in the Triangle region …